O objetivo geral do presente estudo foi compreender o processo de construção de sentidos sobre a participação do pai no contexto de tratamento dos transtornos alimentares. A partir da utilização de uma perspectiva construcionista social, esses transtornos passaram a ser compreendidos enquanto construções sociais, da mesma maneira que o lugar do pai na atualidade. Esse objetivo foi delineado a partir da experiência em um serviço especializado de atendimento, o Grupo de Assistência em Transtornos Alimentares (GRATA), no qual se denotava a maior presença das mães nas estratégias oferecidas, assim como do diálogo com a literatura científica, que apontava reduzidos estudos que focalizassem o discurso paterno. Como objetivos específicos, buscaram-se compreender como os discursos sociais da atualidade contribuem para a construção de sentidos sobre a participação do pai, e quais limites eles circunscrevem em termos das ações tomadas. Para isso, foram conduzidas 12 entrevistas individuais com pais cujas filhas estivessem em seguimento no serviço naquele momento e, em um caso apenas, com o pai de uma filha que havia recebido alta do serviço. O roteiro de entrevista utilizado tratava de temas considerados relevantes para esse contexto, mas, pela vasta quantidade de material, um recorte precisou ser aplicado, tendo como critério priorizar os sentidos construídos que contribuíram mais diretamente para a construção da participação do pai no tratamento. As entrevistas foram transcritas literalmente e na íntegra, constituindo o corpus de análise. A análise foi empreendida com base na Teoria Relacional do Sentido e na Teoria das Práticas Discursivas e Produção de Sentidos no Cotidiano. Foram enfatizados também os jogos de linguagem e de posicionamento situados na relação pesquisadora-colaborador, considerando a linguagem em uso como ação, construtora de realidades. A partir desse empreendimento relacional, foi possível discutir alguns pontos relevantes para a compreensão da temática: o posicionamento da pesquisadora enquanto psicóloga do serviço e como isso delimitou os sentidos produzidos nas interações; a valorização do conhecimento especializado; a construção ampliada da participação do pai para além das atividades oferecidas no contexto hospitalar, como seu lugar de apoio à filha e à esposa, especialmente; o cuidado como ação paterna. Tais sentidos foram confrontados com os validados pela literatura na área, e iniciadas algumas reflexões no sentido de ampliar a negociação sobre a participação do pai, utilizando, para tanto, algumas ferramentas conversacionais construcionistas, como a de self relacional e da responsabilidade relacional. Espera-se que os resultados possam auxiliar os profissionais e os serviços de saúde que atendem a essa população a uma relação mais colaborativa com esses pais, na qual haja o diálogo com esses atores e legitimação desse saber, buscando contextos de assistência que sejam mais convidativos para eles. Isso talvez contribua para uma ressignificação de seu lugar no tratamento de suas filhas. / The aim of this study was to understand the meaning construction process about the father\'s participation in the treatment context of eating disorders. Based on the use of a social constructionist perspective, these disorders are understood as social constructions, in the same way as the father\'s place nowadays. This aim was outlined departing from the experience at an specialized care service, the Eating Disorder Care Group (GRATA), where the greater presence of mothers in the strategies offered was observed, as well as from the dialogue with scientific literature, which appointed limited studies that focused on paternal discourse. As specific aims, we attempted to understand how current social discourse contributes to the construction of meanings about the father\'s participation, and what limits they circumscribe in terms of what actions need to be taken. Therefore, individual interviews were held with 12 fathers whose daughters were under treatment at the time of the research. In only one case the daughter had been discharged from the service. The interview script addressed themes that are considered relevant for this context but, due to the great amount of material, an excerpt was taken, prioritizing the meanings that most directly contributed to the construction of the father\'s participation in treatment. The interviews were completely and literally transcribed, constituting the analysis corpus. To undertake the analysis, the concepts proposed in the Theory of Meaning and the Theory of Discursive Practices and Production of Meanings in Daily Life. Language and positioning games were emphasized that are situated in the relation between researcher and collaborator, considering the language used as action, as a constructor of reality. Based on this relational undertaking, some relevant aspects to understand the theme could be discussed: the researcher\'s positioning as the service psychologist and how this outlined the meanings produced in the interactions; the valuation of specialized knowledge; the expanded construction of the father\'s participation beyond the activities offered in the hospital context, especially as his place to support his daughter and wife; care as paternal action. These meanings were confronted with those validated in literature in the area, and some reflections started in order to broaden the negotiation about the father\'s participation, using some constructionist conversation tools for this purpose, including the concept of relational self and the concept of relational responsibility. We hope the results can help health professionals and services that deliver care to this population to achieve a more collaborative relation with these partners, which is open to dialogue and can result in care contexts that are more inviting to them, legitimizing this knowledge. This may contribute to attribute a new meaning to their place in their daughters\' treatment.

O presente estudo tem por finalidade apreender a construção dos sentidos que são produzidos e negociados no processo de um grupo de apoio a familiares de pessoas diagnosticadas com Anorexia Nervosa e Bulimia Nervosa atendidos em contexto ambulatorial. Mais especificamente, objetiva delinear os sentidos construídos pelos familiares sobre a sua participação no grupo. Acreditamos que o grupo de apoio oferece um contexto fecundo para investigar (e desconstruir) a maneira como as idéias e os valores são constituídos pela tradição da comunidade discursiva e que adquirem uma aparência de ?realidade? para as pessoas que pertencem àquela comunidade. Espera-se que, além de permitir a sistematização de conhecimento na área, os dados oriundos do presente estudo possam trazer benefícios para os usuários desse e de outros serviços com características semelhantes. Nosso objeto de estudo, o grupo de apoio psicológico aos familiares, da maneira como se configura hoje tem cerca de cinco anos de funcionamento. Desde o início é um grupo de ?portas abertas?, isto é, aberto aos parentes e acompanhantes dos pacientes atendidos. Não tem número definido de vagas e todos os familiares dos pacientes atualmente atendidos estão convidados a participar dos encontros. A freqüência é semanal, com uma hora de duração. Foram audio-gravadas e transcritas 10 sessões consecutivas do grupo, no qual 37 familiares estiveram presentes. Após a leitura exaustiva das sessões foram realçadas as falas dos participantes relacionadas à temática da participação grupal. Percebendo-se a pregnância dessa temática e a riqueza na presença de múltiplos sentidos para a participação grupal nas 3 primeiras sessões consecutivas gravadas, optou-se pelo seu recorte para a análise, sendo que a primeira sessão foi analisada em toda sua extensão e as outras 2 sessões foram recortadas em seus trechos mais significativos. A análise dessas sessões foi empreendida dentro do referencial téorico do construcionismo social e utilizando-se do recurso metodológico de delimitações temático-seqüenciais. Os diferentes momentos da sessão delimitados tematicamente foram: os diferentes sentidos para o estar no grupo; a construção da diferença no grupo; o reconhecimento das semelhanças e desigualdades entre os participantes; a construção dos diferentes lugares no grupo; a compreensão dos sentidos para o espaço grupal; a construção da possibilidade de continuarem juntos; as indicações para a participação grupal e a possibilidade de um novo sentido para a diferença. Ao negociarem esses sentidos, os participantes constroem a si-mesmos, a doença e o grupo. Os julgamentos construídos no grupo podem ser tomados como verdades, cristalizando determinadas maneiras descrições e valores, que podem promover movimentos de segregação e afastamento no grupo. Todavia, esses sentidos podem ser revisitados e reconfigurados, em uma constante teia que enlaça novos significados a cada nova interação (CAPES). / The aim of this study is the comprehension of the meanings produced and negotiated in the process of a familiar support group of people that has been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa taken care in an ambulatory context. More specifically, this study aims to delineate the meanings that these familiars give about their participation at the group. We believe that the support group offers a valorous context for the investigation (deconstruction) of the ways that the discursive traditional communities construct its ideas and values and how those ideas gain the status of reality for the people in those communities. We hope that the results of this study can help the users of this and others services with similar characteristics. Our study object, the familiar support group, in its actual configuration, has five years of functioning. Since its beginning the group is open to the familiars and companions of the people taken care of at the service. It does not have a definitive number of participants that can be in, and all the families are invited to participate. We taped and transcript 10 sessions of this group. 37 participants were present in those sessions. After the exhaustive reading of this material, we enlighten the participant\'s sayings that were referred to the familiar participation. Once we realized the presence of this thematic in the first tree sessions, those were chosen to constitute the corpus of our analysis. The analysis was based in the social constructionist perspective and in the use of the methodological and theoretical recourse of analysis called sequential and thematic delimitations. The different moments of these session delimited by these themes were: the different meanings for the group participation; the construction of the difference in the group; the recognition of the similarities and differences between the participants; the different places taken in the group; the comprehension for the different group\'s meanings; the construction of the possibilities for being together; the indications for the group\'s participation; and the possibilities for the appearance of a new meaning for the difference. When negotiating these meanings, the participants construct themselves, the disease and the group. The judges that emerge at the group can be taken as true, being crystallized and promoting segregation movements in the group. However, these meanings can be revisited and be reconfigured in a constant art of enlacing new meanings as new relation and interaction begins (CAPES).

A preocupação com a participação da família no tratamento em Saúde Mental no Brasil tem se produzido historicamente a partir do movimento de reforma psiquiátrica, que busca transformar a lógica de produção de cuidado em saúde. Desde então, observa-se certa tensão neste campo, com a presença de diferentes discursos sobre a família, sua participação, envolvimento e responsabilidade com relação ao adoecimento mental e seu cuidado. O objetivo do presente estudo é compreender como familiares atendidos em um programa de assistência à família, no contexto de uma instituição de Saúde Mental, constroem sentidos sobre sua participação no tratamento. Para tanto, foram realizadas entrevistas individuais, semiestruturadas, com dez familiares de pacientes de um serviço público de semi-internação psiquiátrica localizado em uma cidade de médio porte no estado de São Paulo. Estas entrevistas tiveram como tema central a participação destes familiares no programa de assistência à família da instituição, considerando seus entendimentos sobre família, doença mental e tratamento. As entrevistas foram audiogravadas e transcritas integralmente, sendo submetidas a procedimentos qualitativos de análise, com base nas contribuições do movimento construcionista social em ciência. Em primeiro lugar, realizamos uma análise temática, organizada em três recortes temporais: 1) Famílias em sofrimento, que versa sobre a vida dos familiares antes do HD, tendo como temas o surgimento da doença e suas consequências na vida familiar, e as passagens por serviços de saúde; 2) Famílias em tratamento, que contempla cinco formas de participação dos familiares no HD: o cuidado à família, o aprendizado sobre a doença mental, a transformação das relações familiares, o cuidado com o familiar em semi-internação e o cuidado mútuo entre as famílias; 3) Famílias em desenvolvimento, relacionando os assuntos acerca da vida atual, considerando a melhora do paciente, os desafios da vida pós-alta e as perspectivas imaginadas por estes familiares. A seguir, analisamos o processo comunicacional de uma das entrevistas, ilustrando como toda descrição da participação do familiar era construída como produto da interação de pesquisa. Percebemos como determinadas posturas do entrevistador convidavam a um processo de participação do familiar similar àquele que se pretendia investigar. Concluímos que a participação destes familiares no tratamento se constrói como possibilidade não apenas mediante o convite para participação, mas através do efetivo e cotidiano investimento na qualidade das relações entre os atores envolvidos no processo (pacientes, familiares e profissionais de saúde), em um contínuo processo, construído momento-a-momento no cotidiano das práticas de saúde. Esta compreensão chama atenção para a micropolítica da produção de cuidado e para a necessidade de uma atenção aos processos comunicativos e relacionais envolvidos na participação da família no cotidiano da instituição. Concluímos apontando o desafio de inventar, no cotidiano das práticas, formas de fazer este cuidado acontecer. Para este fim, destacamos a importância de deslocar o entendimento de tratamento da família para cuidado da família. A transformação deste entendimento considera os efeitos negativos que discursos de culpabilização e adoecimento da família geram na sociedade, buscando transformá-los em direção a discursos atrelados a práticas que de fato apoiem e ajudem famílias em sofrimento. (FAPESP) / Concerns with the participation of family in mental health treatments in Brazil have historically aroused from the movement of psychiatric reform, which aims at changing the logic that underlies the production of healthcare. Ever since then, it has been possible to observe tensions in this field, characterized by the presence of different discourses regarding family, their participation, involvement and responsibility in relation to mental health and to its needed care. This study aims to understand how relatives of mental health patients make meanings about their own participation in treatment. We conducted individual, semi structured interviews with ten of those relatives who were seen in a mental health day service in a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The participation of these family members in treatment was the central theme of these interviews, which focused especially on their understandings about family, mental health and treatment. The interviews were recorded in audio, fully transcribed and later analyzed through qualitative procedures, based on the contributions of the social constructionist movement in science. First, we conducted a thematic analysis, which was organized in three time-based categories: 1) Families in pain, that refers to the lives of the family members before their participation in treatment, and that has as themes the arising of the illness, its consequences to family life, and the families seek for help in health services; 2) Families in treatment, which contemplates five forms of participation in the program for family assistance, namely the care for families, the learning about the mental illness, the transformation of family relationships, the care for the family member who is being treated, and the mutual care between different families; 3) Families in development, under which are the themes regarding the interviewees current lives, considering the improvement of the patients situation, the challenges family members have faced since they left the service, and their imagined perspectives for life. Next, we analyzed the communicational process in one of the interviews that illustrated how every description of the participation of the family member in treatment was constructed as an interactional product during the research process. We realized how certain stances of the researcher invited a process of participation by the family member very similar to that which we wanted to investigate. We concluded that the participation of these family members in treatment is constructed as a possibility not only through inviting them to participate, but through an effective and daily investment in the quality of the relationships between different social actors involved in the process (patients, family members, healthcare practitioners). We characterized this as an ongoing process, constructed at every moment during everyday health practices. This understanding calls attention to the micro politics of production of healthcare, and to the necessity of an attention to communicational and relational processes involved in the participation of family in the quotidian of the institution. We concluded by pointing to the challenge of creating, in daily practices, ways of making this care happen. For that, we highlighted the importance of moving away from an understanding of a family being treated to one that considers a family who needs care. The transformation of this understanding considers the negative effects that discourses blaming families for the disease create in society. We hope to contribute to changes in these discourses towards others that, intertwined to practices, may actually be supportive and helpful to families who suffer. (The São Paulo Research Foundation).

O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi compreender as práticas discursivas de pessoas diagnosticadas com Anorexia Nervosa (AN) ou Bulimia Nervosa (BN) com relação a produção de sentidos sobre as relações profissional-paciente no âmbito do tratamento desses transtornos alimentares (TA), aqui considerados não como quadros diagnósticos, mas como construções sociais. Esse objetivo foi traçado no diálogo com a literatura científica na área que identifica poucos espaços de escuta dessas pessoas sobre o que elas consideram importante em suas relações com os profissionais de saúde, e no diálogo com as narrativas das participantes deste estudo que apontaram a boa qualidade do relacionamento profissionalpaciente como importante na construção de um atendimento considerado satisfatório. De maneira específica, buscou-se compreender como o uso de diferentes repertórios interpretativos e discursos sociais participam da produção de sentidos sobre as relações profissional-paciente, além de investigar as implicações dos diferentes posicionamentos assumidos por ambos na coconstrução de descrições de si, direitos, deveres e lugares ocupados pelos pacientes na relação com os profissionais. Para tanto, foram entrevistadas 12 mulheres diagnosticadas com AN e BN atendidas por um serviço de assistência em TA. 5 dessas mulheres responderam de forma mais pessoal sobre o que é um relacionamento significativo com um profissional, oferecendo histórias de seus relacionamentos anteriores e atuais com os profissionais, narradas com riqueza de detalhes. Considerando-se a vasta quantidade de material a ser analisado, um recorte do material foi necessário e essa riqueza narrativa foi o critério utilizado para a seleção dessas 5 entrevistas para análise. O corpus de análise foi composto pelo recorte dos momentos das entrevistas nos quais o tema do relacionamento profissional-paciente estava presente. Assumindo-se uma perspectiva construcionista social sobre produção do conhecimento, utilizou-se, para a análise desse corpus, a Teoria relacional do sentido, a Teoria do posicionamento e a proposta teóricometodológica das Práticas discursivas e produção de sentidos. A partir da análise desse material foi possível abordar: as implicações do uso do discurso biomédico, que entende a AN e BN como psicopatologias, para as construções de si das participantes deste estudo e para a construção de possibilidades e limites da sua participação nas decisões sobre o tratamento; o pedido das participantes para uma maior proximidade afetiva com o profissional; o lugar ocupado pelo psicólogo e pelos demais profissionais da equipe multidisciplinar frente a esse pedido; os efeitos dos repertórios interpretativos disponibilizados pela literatura da área sobre a dificuldade no relacionamento profissional-paciente para as práticas discursivas das participantes ao falarem de seus desentendimentos com os profissionais; e as implicações da eleição do tratamento hospitalar como locus privilegiado de cuidado dessas pessoas. Alguns aportes teóricos construcionistas sociais, como a responsabilidade relacional, o ser relacional, o diálogo transformador e a postura colaborativa foram ofertados para pensar cenários relacionais entre profissionais e pacientes que pudessem incluir: a noção de identidade como movimento e não como estabilidade; o entendimento dos sucessos e insucessos nesses relacionamentos como ações conjuntas; a defesa do paciente como agente coconstrutor de seu cuidado e a possibilidade de convivência de diferentes verdades em saúde. / The general aim of this work was to understand the discursive practices of people diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) in the meaning production about professional-patient relationships in the treatment of eating disorders. Eating disorders are understood here as social constructions. This objective was delineated in dialogue with the scientific literature in the field that identifies a lack of spaces to listen to these people as well as in dialogue with this study participants\' narratives that associated meaningful assistance with the possibility of good quality in professional-patient relationship. Specifically, we aimed at understanding how the use of different interpretive repertoire and social discourses participate in the meaning production about the professional-patient relationship. We also tried to comprehend the implications of different positions assumed by both of them in the coconstruction of self descriptions, rights, duties and places occupied by patients in their relations with professionals. In order to do that, 12 women diagnosed with AN and BN assisted by an eating disorder service were interviewed. 5 interviews were selected to be analysed considering its richness of narratives about professional-patient relationship. Interview excerpts in which the theme of professional-patient relationship was discussed were selected to compose the analysis corpus Assuming a social constructionist perspective about knowledge construction, the following theoretical and methodological resources were used: Relational Theory of Meaning, Positioning Theory and Discursive practices and production of meanings. The analysis highlighted: the implications of biomedical discourse use, in which AN and BN is understood as psychopathologies, to the self constructions of the participants of this study and to the construction of possibilities and limitations of their participation in the decisions about the treatment; the participants\' request for closer and emotional relationship with professionals; the role of the psychologist and the rest of the multidisciplinary team to address this request; the effects of the use of the literature in the field that constructs the professional-patient relationships in terms of its difficulties in the discursive practice of the participants when they talked about their conflicts with professionals; and the implication of electing treatment as the privileged scenario of health care. Some social constructionist resources such as Relational Responsibility, Relational Being, Transformative Dialogue and Collaborative Partnership, were implemented to think about relational scenarios between professionals and patients that could include: the idea of identity as movement instead of stability; the understanding of the success and failure in these relationships as conjoint actions; the defense of the patient\'s protagonism in the construction of health; and the possibility of the coexistence of diverse realities.

Na construção de políticas sociais atribuiu-se um papel central à família na proteção social e no cuidado com os seus membros. Na saúde, a família assume essa centralidade na Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF), sendo compreendida como objeto da atenção em saúde. Essa centralidade se deu a partir de uma pretensão de mudança no modelo assistencial que visasse a integralidade do cuidado e um olhar para as condições de vida como fundamentais no processo saúde-doença. Tais transformações nos sentidos e práticas de saúde têm sido desafiadoras. A partir da perspectiva Construcionista Social, que orienta esse estudo, compreendemos que os sentidos são construídos nas interações entre as pessoas e que esses configuram práticas sociais. Diante deste quadro de desafios na ESF e a partir da perspectiva adotada, temos como objetivo compreender os sentidos produzidos por profissionais de equipes de saúde sobre famílias em contextos de reuniões de discussão de família/caso na ESF, buscando analisar como esses configuram a produção de práticas de cuidado e também como se dá a dinâmica de construção desses sentidos a partir das negociações entre os participantes. A constituição do corpus foi feita a partir da observação e registros em áudio de 16 reuniões de duas equipes de saúde da família, contando com 26 participantes, dentre eles profissionais e estagiários de diferentes especialidades. A análise foi feita a partir da perspectiva das práticas discursivas, com os seguintes passos: 1) transcrição do material; 2) leitura intensiva e organização do material; 3) construção de sentidos sobre a família, e análise dos repertórios interpretativos, discursos usados, e implicações para ação; e 4) narrativa ilustrativa da dinâmica dos sentidos. Os sentidos construídos na análise foram: a) Família como pessoas que moram juntas: os repertórios usados descreviam os modos de ser família a partir do ambiente em que ela vive, entendendo a família como informante e cuidadora dos seus membros; b) Família como responsável pelo cuidado: repertórios de família como aquela que dá suporte aos seus membros e é responsável por eles; e, por vezes, está sobrecarregada com esses cuidados; c) Família como problema: repertórios que configuravam a família como aquela que é responsável pelo problema de saúde dos seus membros, como aquela que funciona como um estressor para eles ou como aquela que está em situação de risco; e d) Família como rede de relações, sentido que foi usado, mais comumente, em conversas sobre casos complexos, com discussões voltadas para configurações, estruturas e dinâmicas familiares. A partir da análise do processo de discussão da equipe em torno de um \"caso\", foi possível ilustrar o dinamismo desses sentidos nas conversas e como esses são negociados a todo momento. A análise nos permite considerar que há esforços dos profissionais em voltar a atenção do cuidado para a família, porém ainda são comuns práticas centradas no indivíduo e pouco pautadas no contexto e nas condições de vida das famílias. Compreendemos que dar visibilidade a esses diferentes sentidos e seu uso permite reflexões sobre como cada forma de descrever as famílias possibilita a construção de práticas distintas, o que pode contribuir para uma maior reflexão dos profissionais de saúde sobre sua prática cotidiana (Apoio Capes e Fapesp- 2014/08618-6). / In constructing social policies, a central role has been assigned to the family regarding its social protection and care for its members. In Health, the family assumes such centrality in the Brazilian Family Health Strategy (FHS), being understood as a health care object. This centrality is given from an intention of changing the health care model, which should aim integrality of care and a look at/attention towards the living conditions as fundamental in the health-illness process. But the changes in the meanings and health practices have been challenging. From the social constructionist perspective, which guides this study, we understand that the meanings are built in interactions among people and that such constitute social practices. Given these elements - challenges in the FHS and the said perspective - we aim to understand the meanings produced by health team professionals about families in contexts of FHS family discussion meetings. We seek to analyze how these meanings shape the production of care practices and also how these senses are dynamically constructed from the negotiations among participants. The corpus construction was structured from observation and audio records from 16 FHS teams meetings, with 26 participants, including professionals and trainees from different specialties. The analysis was based on the discursive practices perspective, with the following steps: 1) material transcription; 2) intensive reading and material organization; 3) construction of meanings about family, and analysis of interpretative repertoires, discourse use, and implications for action; and 4) illustrative narrative of meanings dynamics. Meanings constructed in the analysis were: a) family as people who live together: the repertoires described the ways of being family considering the environment they live, understanding family as informant and caregiver of its members; b) family as responsible for care: Family repertoires as that which supports its members and holds accountability for them; also, sometimes becomes overloaded with such stewardship; c) Family as problem: repertoire that conceived family as being responsible for members\' health problems, acting as a stressor to them or as one that is at risk; d) Family as relationships network, meaning more commonly attributed in conversations about complex cases, with discussions oriented to settings, structures and family dynamics. From the analysis of a team discussion process on one \"case\", it was possible to illustrate the dynamism of these senses in conversations and how they are negotiated at all times. The analysis demonstrates that professionals endeavor to turn their efforts towards the family, but practices are still commonly centered on the individual and less grounded in context and living conditions of families. We understand that giving visibility to these different senses and their use allows reflections on how each way of describing families allows the construction of different practices, potentially contributing to greater reflection of health professionals about their daily practice (Support Capes and FAPESP- 2014 / 08618-6).

This licentiate’s dissertation is about how school staff talk about pupils having difficulties in relating to teachers and other pupils. It’s specific focus is on pupils which are described as “disturbing”, “troublesome”,”unruly”, “unconcentrated” or characterised by similar concepts. The main aim is to elucidate and discuss how school staff explain pupils’ difficulties, what measures they state that they undertake and what measures they consider necessary. The study is based on a social constructive approach. This means that the way we understand the world we live in is seen as shaped by social and cultural processes mediated through language. A consequence of this is that the way the staff talk about pupils in difficulties will influence how they relate to those children and how they work at solving the problems. The empirical material consists of interviews with six principals, six Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators and six class teachers from six different schools. 15 of the people interviewed work with 11–13 year olds and three of them with 7–9 year olds. The material from the interviews is categorised into themes and further analysed in order to present a systematic overview of the ways in which the staff talk about children in difficulties. The result shows that the problems are understood as complex and full of nuances. Explanations of the problems from medical/psychological perspectives have no distinguished status. It is more common that the problems are related to social conditions, family situation and school environment. The study also shows that different professional groups usually place the responsibility for solving the problems with other professional groups. The way the concerned principal looks upon the problem seems be important for the way the problem is dealt with. The way the staff studied talk about the school activities indicates that schools differ concerning issues like organisation, the role of the Special Needs Co-ordinator, co-operation between different professional groups etc. As a consequence pupils having difficulties in relating to other people will be subjected to different conditions depending on what school they attend. The school as an arena of identity creation and citizenship education will offer hence different opportunities to different children in difficulties.

Magister Artium - MA / This research is a discourse analysis of a christian “coloured” youth group, from the area of Mitchell‘s Plain, Cape Town. The aim of the analysis is to explore the ways in which the interlocutors construct their identities and gender positions and how they are able to affirm, challenge and perpetuate dominant discourses. The role of this context, namely the social and religious context is pivotal to shaping this interaction. The analysis of the data uses the appraisal framework particularly the attitudinal and engagement systems to analyse how the interlocutors strategically communicate their attitudes, evaluations, feelings and judgements. Ultimately, this research shows how the males and females use language to negotiate identities and socially position themselves. In addition, the research indicates that the male interlocutors in most instances exert a strong influence on the discussions, which result in females showing tendencies to allow for the male ideologies to dictate, thus perpetuating the dominant ideologies about male and female behaviour

Social constructionism offers a framework that acknowledges the predominance of language in the construction of meaning. Society at large has begun to question the assumptions that are made by empirical paradigms of science. Rather than looking for so-called “truth” social constructionism is interested in the values that underlie specific constructions of meaning. In this dissertation, reminiscence in older individuals is studied from the perspective of social constructionism. In social constructionism the unheard voices and the hidden subtexts are revealed. Most research up to now focuses on the meaning that reminiscence has for the teller of personal stories. Very little emphasis is placed in the current literature on the listener and even less acknowledgement is given to reminiscence as an activity that takes place in relationship. The emphasis in this study is therefore to include the listener in the ongoing conversation about reminiscence. Different voices are juxtaposed, with three participants writing about their experiences as listeners. The question of how reminiscence contributes to both meaning and identity is posed. A holistic content analysis conducted from a narrative perspective follows. To conclude, the author not only makes her own values explicit throughout the study, but invites the reader to become a participant and to add another voice to those voices included in the study. The reading of the study thus becomes an interactive process. Copyright 2005, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Beneke, M 2005, The way it was, the way it is : reminiscence as intergenerational construction of identity, MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02242006-125424 / > / Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

Adolescents need to feel loved and cared for and they need to share their feelings with other people in their environment. As the school plays a significant role in the life of the adolescent, emotional support is an important aspect that has to be part of any educational setting. Unfortunately, adolescents do not always feel comfortable talking to a teacher, a person in authority or even a school psychologist. In many instances they are most comfortable talking to a friend or a peer with whom they can identify. In this study, a literature review explored adolescence as a developmental stage, existing support systems in schools, and the history, key features, definition and nature of peer support groups and supervision of peer supporters. Studies revealed that peer support has potential advantages but also disadvantages for peer supporters but that the former outweigh the latter. The study also looked at research on peer support groups in the South African context. The aims of this study were to explore, in a qualitative way, the experiences, thoughts and feelings of three adolescent peer supporters and provide rich and thick descriptions of their stories. Postmodernism, social constructionism and narrative psychology were combined and identified as a framework for the research. The research material gathered by means of individual interviews, focus groups and journaling reflected the realities co-constructed by the participants and the researcher. The researcher also made use of reflexivity by including a description of her own experience of the research process. The strengths and limitations of this study are evaluated and the findings are summarized. Finally, recommendations are made on supervision, constructing roles and boundaries, training, keeping the momentum of peer support groups going and the usefulness of peer support groups. / Dissertation (MA (Counseling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

This multidisciplinary study, which includes Practical Theology and also insights from Psychology and Sociology, investigates experiences of abuse in social structures such as the church. My epistemological approach is social constructionist. Psychological theories employed are the social constructivist personal construct theory of George Kelly and Gergen's social constructionist theorization. Kelly's theory posits that people construct their own realities in social settings, such as family, culture and everyday social structures. This takes place on a cognitive level through the nervous system. By means of Gergen’s social constructionist theorization the role that social constructions (beliefs and practices) play in (often unintentional) abusive practices in social structures as well as the experiences of victims, is explained. Sociological theories included are Berger and Luckmann’s theory of the social construction of reality as well as Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory, which emphasizes agency (human action) and structure tensions in social structures. I argue that processes such as typification, reification and structuration, as explained by these theorists can result in abusive actions and behaviours (often unintentional) and experiences of abuse by people in groups. In addition, the lives and teachings of Jesus and Paul are examined from a social constructionist perspective. A qualitative investigation was conducted with participants who claim to have experienced abuse in groups. Their stories are used as case studies. A narrative thematic analysis reveals that dominant discourses, for example patriarchal worldviews and belief systems which go unexamined, are often imposed on others which results in experiences of abuse. The study is therefore embedded in a postmodern, social constructionist narrative framework constructed from all three disciplines. Traditions, belief systems and practices should be reflected upon, carefully examined and revisited, and not simply accepted as "reality". Reality is constructed in social interaction and relationship and should be open to review and change should the need arise, prompted by, for example, unacceptable phenomena, such as experiences of abuse in the church. The findings of this study are that the church and pastoral care ministry are often experienced as uncaring and abusive. Underlying dominant discourses should be exposed, since they contribute to practices that cause psychological, social and physical traumatisation and consequences for people. Pastoral care is often neglected because these actions and behaviours are regarded as "normal" and even "biblical". People are labelled and blamed. Male domination, objectification, humiliation, abuse of power and control, misuse of knowledge and truth claims are the consequence. The study revealed a strong correlation between participants’ experiences of abuse and the social constructionist constructs. Therefore social constructionist theory offers an adequate explanation for experiences and actions of abuse in the church. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Practical Theology / unrestricted